Snowy Heart. (Naruto FF)

"F-Forget I said anything!"

   "Alright, everyone. We have a line of missions to do today." Kakashi said to most of his team, who were slightly irritated with his lateness. "Wait a second, where's Saruko?"

   "We haven't seen her today. We thought she was with you." Sakura answered, starting to think about the redhead. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around much at all lately."

   "Neither have I, believe it!" Naruto agreed. They all turned to Sasuke for his answer, to which he only shook his head.

   'Damn her. Where has she gone this time? Don't tell me that she took another mission.' Kakashi sighed softly, prepared to excuse himself when a small cyclone of frozen air manifested next to him.

   "Keep your pants on, everyone. I'm here." The team turned to see the disgruntled redhead waved halfheartedly at them. The marks under her eyes were more predominate than before, and her skin had a few new scars on it. The girl yawned, stretching her arms up for a bit before having them collapse back at her sides.

   "Glad to see you could join us, Saruko." Kakashi acknowledged, earning himself a harsh glare from the girl. "Like I said, we have several missions go get through today, so let's get started."

   Kakashi led the way as his pupils followed, two of which found themselves on either side of Saruko. "Hey, Saru-chan, are you doing alright? You look exhausted."

   "I'm alright, Kura-chan. Just had a lot of late night training sessions lately. Nothing major to worry about, honest." Saruko brushed off her concerns. Naruto, however, continued to push.

   "Are you sure? It's been going on for a month now! That's a long time to go without sleep, believe it!" He all but yelled in her ear, which was normal for him. Once again, Saruko turned and waved him off.

   "Don't worry, guys. I am sleeping whenever I can, and it's worth it if that means I can better my own skills."

   As the three bright haired kids talked amongst themselves, the final member, Sasuke, hung back and stared perplexedly at the newest student of Kakashi's. As he had been for the entire month she's been here, Sasuke has been simply observing her whenever he could. It wasn't uncommon that the two would meet up and sit in silence for hours on end, just enjoying the other's company.

   So there was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that she wasn't telling the whole truth.

   The grouped stopped at a house closer to the edge of the village. Outside stood an older woman, who put in the mission request, carrying a small dog in her arms. "It's about time you got here! I need these weeds out of my garden pronto!"

   'Then why not do it yourself, you disgusting old hag.' Saruko thought, crossing her arms and putting up her barrier once again. Just as they were making their way out back, Saruko felt a buzz on her hip. Knowing what it meant, she turned to Sakura and placed her mouth to the pinkette's ear.

   "Hey, I have to take care of something really quick. Do you mind covering for me? I don't want the boys chasing me down again." Sakura seemed slightly taken aback, but nodded nonetheless.

   "Uh, yeah, sure. I can do that."

   "Thanks Kura-chan. You're a life saver." With that, Saruko slowed her pace until she was behind the group, then took off in another direction.

   After a few minutes of running, Saruko slowed to a stop at a certain tree in the middle of a field. It was slightly bigger around than the others, and it was clearly older than most. Stepping up to the base of the tree, she couldn't help but notice the nearby crystal waters nearby as she placed a hand to the bark. With her other hand, she made a series of handsigns before muttering the word 'unlock'.